French Open - Reed: Emotions run high in Paris

Eurosport - Tue, 09 Jun 09:54:00 2009

Eurosport commentator Simon Reed reflects on a French Open he believes will go down in history as the one of the great Grand Slams.

Roger Federer with the French Open trophy - 0

The final of the French Open was one the most uplifting occasions I've been privileged to commentate on.

It was in many ways the perfect end to a perfect tournament at Roland Garros.

The weather was brilliant, the crowds were brilliant and there were so many top-class matches and big stories. In my opinion, it was the best French Open for 10 years.

Roger Federer's win against Robin Soderling was greeted with so much emotion, it was extraordinary.

People have so much love for him, and for what he stands for as a person.

Of course, the fact he has experienced so much disappointment at Roland Garros also motivated fans to get behind him.

But I do find it a bit strange that Rafael Nadal wasn't treated with the same respect when he played.

Men's tennis is blessed by two top-notch blokes in Federer and Nadal and their example filters down throughout the game. Both are terrific individuals.

Ultimately Federer has been unlucky to have Nadal playing in his era. He would have won the French Open a long time ago if not for Nadal - who I believe is the greatest clay-court player the world has seen.

But strangely enough, I believe Federer's performance was probably his least impressive in clay court tennis for four years.

I still maintain he's not the player he used to be, and he probably won't get back to where he was. But you have to admire the way he dealt with the pressure in the final to make history.

Simon Reed / Eurosport

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  1. Shame on you Simon Reed! You are exhibiting an attitude­ called cognitive dissonance, shamelessly defending a­ position you have taken against Federer that has­ faltered on all fronts. You predicted that Djokovic,­ not Federer, would trouble Nadal at Roland Garros; they­ both got kicked in the first week! The more you try to­ bury the great man's career, the more he proves how­ much your opinion does not count. You strenuously tried­ to persuade us that Federer would never win another­ grand slam, now he's won the French Open.­ "Federer past his best," yet he has appeared­ in the last five grand slam finals (to Nadal's­ three), winning two of them. Your arguments are lame!­ No one doubts that Rafa is a great athlete and the­ greatest clay courter in history but I wonder how your­ opinion stacks up against that of Sampras, Laver,­ Agassi, and the stars of today - who all regard Roger­ Federer as the greatest player to have graced their­ sport!

    From chuma m, on Mon 8 Jun 4:53PM

  2. I am very worried about Nadal...

    This new injury looks­ bad. He would never miss a GS tournament unless its­ really serious. And on top of that, he's got real­ @#$% for fans. He deserves better.

    From KZsuzsi, on Mon 8 Jun 4:52PM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Roger is a great player and has achieved a lot no­ doubt. But if Rafa werea 100% fit, surely he would have­ retained his crown. The French crowd is really­ pathetic. I cant understand why they should be booing a­ 4-time champion who has done nothing except produce­ some of the very best tennis ever witnessed. Not even­ Roger achieved what Rafa has achieved when he was 23.­ It's one thing to support a player and quite­ another to boo and try to demoralize another. And Roger­ will never completely exorcise his french open demons­ until he beats Rafa at a Roland Garros Final. It aint­ gonna happen. Now we've seen the best of Fedex and­ he has equalled the record he coveted so much, he's­ gonna gradually fade away. Its time for younger folk to­ dominate men's tennis. I think Del Potro is finally­ showing the maturity required to step up to the next­ level pushing roger out of that top 4 slot in the near­ future.

    From jaykay, on Mon 8 Jun 4:51PM

  4. Let us take our cue from Federer and Nadal. Each of­ them has spoken of their great respect for the other­ and each has proven it by playing their best tennis,­ and calling on all their reserves of skill and­ determination to beat the other. Surely we, as their­ fans, should follow their example and have nothing but­ praise and respect for both of them.

    From Rittick M, on Mon 8 Jun 4:48PM

  5. Thank you Simon Reed for your article. I do not agree­ with your comments on the greatness of the 2009 Roland­ Garros tournament but i completely agree with your­ comments on both Federer and Rafa.
    The gods must have­ been smiling on Federer this time - no Rafa, no­ Djokovic and no Andy Murray. His path could not have­ been easier and yet he almost, on several occasions, ­ failed to get through to the next round.

    I found his­ comments that it was good to have someone different in­ the final insensitive in the extreme. Did he not think­ that it might have made a change not to see him in the­ final?! His behaviour in Australia gave us a glimpse­ of the less than charming Federer of old
    As you may­ guess I am a huge Rafa fan and found the crowd's­ treatment of him really bad. His behaviour in defeat­ was so impressive. Let's hope he's back very­ soon and even stronger.
    Irene Mackie - Cardiff

    From Terry, on Mon 8 Jun 4:37PM

  6. And none of you bad mouthers know what it is to play in­ a GS - 1st round or finals. So just relax and let the­ greatest tennis player enjoy his moment. Even the­ greats like Sampras, Agassi and McEnroe do not doubt­ the achievement of the great Federer! Silly guys you­ are!
    And as for Reed's article - again, lol, what a­ bunch of nonsense.

    From M, on Mon 8 Jun 4:29PM

  7. And here enter the conspiracy theories: When no other­ explanations can explain the inexplicable. This is so­ poor. Well, then, here's another one: Nadal lost­ his french title with total help and­ co-operation from­ his opponent.

    From Casalpusterlengho, on Mon 8 Jun 4:24PM

  8. SIMON REED, Federer will once again prove you wrong­ when it comes to Wimbledon, now that the pressure of RG­ is off, I'm sure he will be back to his old self­ and showing us once again who is number 1.

    From stuart gardner, on Mon 8 Jun 4:23PM

  9. SIMON REED, Federer will once again prove you wrong­ when it comes to Wimbledon, now that the pressure of RG­ is off, I'm sure he will be back to his old self­ and showing us once again who is number 1.

    From stuart gardner, on Mon 8 Jun 4:23PM

  10. It was his destiny to win this year, one, because Nadal­ is injured this year, then he endeed up with a guy­ ranked 27th in the world. I can only equate it with­ Obama ended up with the worse opponent for the­ republicians in McCain and Palin

    From donna s, on Mon 8 Jun 4:22PM

  11. Strangely enough, the great Roger Federer doesn't­ get the deserved respect from Reed. He seems­ "like" Nadal more and his preference surely­ affects his writing. As Federer said, what matters is­ who win the match, but not who is on the other side of­ the net.

    From CK, on Mon 8 Jun 4:20PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    #36; I totaly agree with your opinion that Soderling­ gifted Federa the crown. In the same vein, his speech­ at the ceremony gave it away. he said Federa thought­ him a game of tennis.. he helped Federa to the crown. ­ if he had put in 100% Federa would have been in­ trouble.. He was instrumental to the demise of tennis­ as his action now says it all that you can throw away­ matches to make history.. As suggested all monies­ realised by FEDERA should be donated to any orphanage­ in sweden.. No african nation will accept ill gotten­ money.. I still maintain there should be a probe into­ Soderling dismal performance in a GS. take it like this­ that Federa did not play a top 10 player to equal­ Sampras record.. Although, he equalled sampras records,­ they are not in the same league. Sampras won his first­ GS as soon as he entered the tour by demolishing Agassi­ at US open.. Nobody knew about this GREEK born US until­ he appeared. With Federa, he did not achieve GS until­ later when Agassi and the rest were retiring and since­ then there was no oposition in mens tennis until Nadal­ Arrived. Nadal in my own opinion is a better player,­ although I am not a fan of Nadal or Federa either..

    From Augustine A, on Mon 8 Jun 4:17PM

  13. To pooyan_moonwalker (article 32): Congratulations, you­ lifted simon's poor article to a level to making­ this page worth reading. Good details, balance,­ analysis, theory, personal style. Thanks! (You might­ possibly think this is a joke - it isn't). Thumbs­ up!

    From Casalpusterlengho, on Mon 8 Jun 4:16PM

  14. to comment # 25
    I want in on that website! Haha just­ kidding(or am I)

    From Dumitrache, on Mon 8 Jun 4:16PM

  15. He knows Nadal is much better on clay. If nadal stays­ fit, he will eclipse federer. Many of Fed's­ achievements came when there were no other good players­ (Hewitt!). Each of Nadal's were achieved against­ stronger opposition, and without crying with the­ intention of making it seem more important than it­ really is. Fed may cry to make us believe it is­ important, but it is just hitting a ball over a net.­ Get a grip pal, you will be a dad soon, and no-one­ wants to see their dad crying over everything.

    From webbski, on Mon 8 Jun 4:12PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    FED won his FRENCH title with total help &­ co-operation from his opponent

    No contest just a­ midweek warmup on display

    From ace.firstserve, on Mon 8 Jun 4:07PM

  17. This article is just (well, I dug deep but haven't­ found any other expression) "stupid",­ "the bottom of the bottom", "the worst­ of all articles ever written"?

    Please, Simon,­ you usuually have so many personal opinions, why so­ many questions disguised by periods this time? Do you­ really get paid for this?

    I suggest you re-edit it as­ soon as possible, because, incredibly, this is so­ (well, I am too ashamed to say it once more)­ "....."

    From Casalpusterlengho, on Mon 8 Jun 4:04PM

  18. @real: though their completely different, each one is­ different kind of joy to watch, but its pure joy when­ they play their best tennis.

    From pooyan_moonwalker, on Mon 8 Jun 4:03PM

  19. ROGER 1-14 BY THE NUMBERS

    1 - Roland Garros title­ (2009) and Rafael Nadal (only player he's lost to­ in a Grand Slam final)

    2 - Ranking at time of Roland­ Garros title (also '04 Australian Open)

    3 -­ Australian Open titles won (2004, '06-07)

    4 -­ Times reached final in each of the Grand Slam­ tournaments

    5 - Wimbledon (2003-2007) and US Open­ (2004-2008) titles won and number of times he's­ lost to Nadal in Slam finals

    6 - Sets lost during his­ title run at Roland Garros, the most of his Grand Slam­ titles, and how many different players to complete a­ career Grand Slam

    7 - Consecutive years of winning at­ least one Grand Slam title

    8 - Hard court titles­ between US Open (5) and Australian Open (3); Losses in­ his streak of 20 consecutive semi-final or better Grand­ Slam appearances

    9 - Countries of opponents he's­ beaten in Grand Slam finals (Australia, Chile, Cyprus,­ Great Britain, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, and­ U.S.)

    10 - Record consecutive Grand Slam finals­ reached between 2005 Wimbledon and 2007 US Open

    11 -­ Appearances at Roland Garros before winning first title­ (same as Andre Agassi) and number of different­ opponents he's beaten in Grand Slam finals

    12­ -Titles won in his streak of 20 consecutive semi-final­ or better Grand Slam appearances

    13 - Last year's­ US Open where Federer won his previous Grand Slam­ title; 2000 Wimbledon where Sampras won his

    14- Ties­ Pete Sampras for the most Grand Slam singles titles in­ the history of men's tennis

    From pooyan_moonwalker, on Mon 8 Jun 3:59PM

  20. As for the rest of the article..... OK, but the start­ was­ just total trash. The best RG in the last 10­ years???­ the weather maybe, but the crowd was­ pathetic, booing­ players, rooting for players based on­ thier­ nationalities and actually laughing out loud­ when the­ other makes an error. thats just wrong, to­ treat­ professionals including the 4 time deffending­ champion­ that way. just wrong. the french crowd do not­ deserve­ that valuation

    From Charles, on Mon 8 Jun 3:57PM
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